The time has come for the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to open the door and become a world-leader.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
ASADA chief executive David Sharpe says "to be world-leading you need to partner with a globally-recognised university that has a sports focus."
The anti-doping body has struck a landmark partnership with the University of Canberra designed to enhance the potential of both organisations in sport.
Sharpe says negative perceptions about ASADA have been left to fester following Operation Cobia, the long-running supplements saga which stained reputations at Essendon and Cronulla.
The ASADA chief believes it is time to rebuild relationships and engage with athletes, and he hopes partnering with the university will pave the way for the Authority to strengthen their "world-leading, cutting-edge science department".
It provides a chance to build on the successful launch of ASADA's virtual reality technology at last year's Commonwealth Games, which is set to be rolled out globally following its resounding success.
"The reason we launched that, we wanted to demystify the process. A lot of athletes either haven’t been tested or early in their career are a bit scared about the testing process," Sharpe said.
"The first virtual reality we launched was a program where athletes could put the virtual reality goggles on and go through the whole testing program, without actually having to go through the very personal and private process of having to strip in front of someone they’ve just met for the first time.
"We launched that at the Commonwealth Games with amazing success and now WADA, and globally, we have been asked to take our virtual reality program out. It’s a world first, and we want to expand on that technology and innovation with the university’s knowledge and skills.
"I can tell you when we first launched it at the Commonwealth Games, the majority of athletes that had never been tested were blown away by the reality of the program to the point where some of them started to undress, it was that real."
Sharpe says the collaborative research partnership is "only limited by our imagination" with the first stage of the agreement set to create placement opportunities for students in the ASADA science department.
ASADA will also coordinate two conferences themed around leadership in sports integrity and a series of workshops at the university.
University of Canberra vice chancellor Deep Saini sees conferences and workshops as a chance to link up with world-leading organisations, trade ideas and embed them in the campus' research.
"New ideas will come out of it, new mindsets will come out of it, outreach will come out of it. This is not just simply about athletes and sports, this is also about the community," Saini said.
"We need to get young people on the right track before they become elite athletes, so they go into elite athletics with the right mindset. We want them to be healthy citizens, so this has broad implications in our community.
"We already work a lot with the community on a whole slew of areas, beyond that, our three professional teams on this campus [ACT Brumbies, Canberra Capitals, Canberra United], these are our big ambassadors.
"When you have athletes coming out of this university that are on the track of not only excellence in sport, but also excellence in integrity.
"They are serving as role models, and they are out there in the community talking to young kids and to other community members, you have that perfect combination to reach out to the community."
